Breakfast @ Tuoi Tre News – May 20

Ho Chi Minh City Party chief Nguyen Thien Nhan (C) offers incense to late Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh at the Embassy of Vietnam in the Netherlands on May 19, 2019. Photo: Vien Su / Tuoi Tre

Read what is in the news today, May 20!

Politics

-- A high-level Ho Chi Minh City delegation led by municipal Party chief Nguyen Thien Nhan visited the Embassy of Vietnam in the Netherlands on Sunday during an official visit to the European country to learn from their flood control experience.

-- Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Monday kicked off an official visit to Russia from May 20-23, demonstrating that Vietnam treasures the traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership with Russia as both nations are slated to organize the Vietnam Year in Russia and Russia Year in Vietnam in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Society

-- The African swine fever epidemic has spread across 34 cities and provinces in Vietnam, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc said in a meeting with officials and local pig breeders in Hanoi on Sunday as he called for joint efforts in the fight against the contagious disease.

-- Over 10,000 people, including more than 1,000 foreigners, paid tribute to late Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum in Hanoi on Sunday, on the occasion of the 129th anniversary of his birthday (May 19).

-- A national arrest warrant has been issued for Bui Quang Huy, general director of Hanoi phone dealer Nhat Cuong Mobile, who has allegedly fled while charged with “trafficking” and “violating accounting regulations, causing serious consequences”.

-- Thunderstorms and heavy downpours are in the forecast in Ho Chi Minh City and its vicinity for the next ten days as convection clouds have formed over the southern metropolis, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorology Forecasting.

Business

-- State-run Vietnam Electricity Corporation (EVN), the sole power distributor in Vietnam, is mulling adjustments to it tiered electricity pricing rate structure that will effectively have people who use a lot of electricity pay less than they do now, while those who use little electricity will pay more.

-- Shipments of tra fish from the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam to the U.S. and China, two of the biggest buyers of the products, dropped by 12.9 and 44 percent, respectively, in March 2019 compared to the same period of last year, according to seafood exporters.

-- The De Heus group of the Netherlands and Vietnam’s Hung Nhon Group operating in the southern province of Binh Phuoc have set up a joint venture to invest in a VND1.5 trillion (US$64.1 million) high-tech pig breeding project in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak.

Lifestyle

-- The Vocalista Angels Yason Christy Pranowo choir from Indonesia bested 20 other choirs from ten countries and territories to win the top prize at the sixth biennial Vietnam International Choir Competition which took place in Hoi An of central Vietnam from May 15-19.

Many sewers along the streets in Ho Chi Minh City have their entrances blocked by garbage on a regular basis, negatively impacting urban esthetics and the environment while helping cause serious flooding.

Despite the sweltering weather in Hanoi these days, many young people still flock to lotus ponds surrounding the capital city’s iconic Ho Tay (West Lake) to pose for Instgram-ready photos with a sea of blooming flowers.